Feb. 24, 2012

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CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Freshman Stephany LaRosa tied a school record with a pair of triples, finishing the game with three hits and two runs batted in, but the fifth-ranked Bruins lost their first game of the season in a 13-4, five-inning setback to #13 Georgia at the Cathedral City Classic on Friday.

The Bruins fall to 10-1, while the Bulldogs improve to 11-2.

LaRosa's pair of three-baggers marked the 13th time a Bruin had accomplished the feat, with the last instance coming on March 8, 2009 by GiOnna DiSalvatore against Longwood. Freshman Ally Carda also had a triple to give UCLA three in a game for the 16th time in school history and first time since 2009 (San Diego, March 1). Junior B.B. Bates added two hits, as the Bruins had 10 as a team.

Junior Destiny Rodino was the bright spot in the circle for UCLA, as she struck out two and retired all six batters she faced in the fourth and fifth. Sophomore Jessica Hall was saddled with her first loss of the year (4-1), striking out two in three innings and allowing 10 runs (five earned), eight hits and two walks. Carda faced five batters to start the fourth and gave up two homers, two walks and a hit by pitch.

Georgia jumped all over the Bruins, scoring three times in the top of the first on a passed ball and a two-run single by Paige Wilson. The Bulldogs added four more in the second on a sacrifice fly by Tess Sito, an illegal pitch that brought in a run and a two-run single by Brittney Hubbard to make it 7-0.

The Bruins got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second. LaRosa blooped a triple down the right-field line and scored on a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of senior Samantha Camuso to make it 7-1.

The Bulldogs came back with three in the top of the third on a two-run single by Sito, who eventually came around to score on an illegal pitch to extend their lead to 10-1.

UCLA got a good look at the game in the bottom of the third. With one out, sophomore Kellie Fox singled to right and senior Andrea Harrison walked. Bates followed with a single up the middle to bring in Fox to make it 10-2, as Harrison took third. A LaRosa single to left brought in Harrison with the third run and a single to right by Camuso loaded the bases. But senior Dani Yudin hit a high chopper to first, as Christine Olney came home for one and Kristyn Sandberg went back to first to complete the double play.

Georgia added three more in the fourth on a solo homer by Sandberg and a two-run shot by Wilson to extend its advantage to 13-3.

The Bruins scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, but were unable to extend the game. With one out, Bates hit a ground-rule double to left-center and scored on LaRosa's second triple of the game to right.

The Bruins play twice on Saturday, facing Fresno State at 12:30 p.m. and #8 Texas at 3 p.m. Gametracker will be available for both games at UCLABruins.com.